Amara
by obik16
Summary: What if there was another princess besides Azula, and the reason we never see her is because she was kept a secret. Amara is the third fire nation royal child-or is she? She never should have existed, so why does she?


Iroh hurried down the corridor toward his sister-in-law. A midwife had told him Ursa wanted to see him _now._

He found her lying comfortably in bed, a small bundle in her arms.

"Iroh." She said, trying to sound casual though he saw worry in her eyes.

"My dear, how do you do? The birth went well, I hope?"

Ursa gave him a tight smile. "Yes, it was nothing like Azula's."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Iroh grinned. "Do I have a niece or a nephew?"

Ursa laughed softly before handing him the bundle. "Another niece."

Gently bracing the child on his knee, Iroh peeled back the blankets hiding her face, revealing brown hair and pale skin like her mother. They both laughed as the child yawned and scrunched her nose.

"Just like her brother." Ursa remarked.

"Indeed." Iroh chuckled. He stopped when the baby opened her eyes. He looked up sharply at his sister-in-law, and saw the fear in her eyes. The child's eyes were blue. A trait no Firenation citizen had, let alone a fire bender.

"Shoza," he said, turning to the midwife, "Could you please give us a few moments alone?"

She frowned. "But-"

"Shoza, "Ursa chimed in, "I am fine, and Prince Iroh just wants to talk in private for a few moments."

The nurse pursed her lips and replied "Yes, Milady." Before bowing out the door.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Iroh asked, "She is not his, is she?"

Ursa shook her head, not looking at him.

"Kano?"

"Yes."

Iroh processed the information. "Ozai will not be pleased when he finds out the child is not his."

She shook her head. "He is not going to find out. I will tell him she is ours, and that an illness changed her eye color."

"He will expect her to be a fire bender."

"And we shall say the illness took her bending away."

He raised an eyebrow. "We?" he questioned.

Ursa looked pleadingly at Iroh. "Yes, we. Please, brother, you know he will kill me and my child if he ever found out. You must help me protect her, keep her from bending."

Iroh looked surprised at this. "She is a water bender?"

"Yes. A strong one. She was born under a full moon, Iroh, in the winter no less. That is always a sign."

How Iroh may have answered would not be known. Just then a soft knock at the door startled them both out of their rather loud conversation.

"Come in." he called.

The door opened revealing four year-old Zuko, eyes wide. "Mommy?" he whispered.

Ursa smiled at her son. "Come here, Zuko, everything is fine."

Zuko padded in with his almost three year-old sister in tow. Both children looked quite scared, Azula sucking her thumb and Zuko gripping her hand. They toddled up to their uncle, looking at the squishy _thing_ in his arms.

"Children," She announced, "Meet your new baby sister."

"Sistew?"

Azula made a face and Zuko clapped wildly, obviously delighted to have a new sibling. "Wha's herw name?"

Ursa smiled at her new daughter.

"Amara."

O_O_O_O_O_O_O

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"

Ursa turned and smiled at her youngest. Amara had grown so much in the last three years, and she rarely let her out of her sight. Ozai had not been pleased to hear of "their" daughter's illness that had taken away her bending, and had certainly not liked that his wife had named her without him. Now he made sure there was always someone with Amara, because the "illness" had not gone away.

"Mommy, look! Look what I gots now!

"What is it, Darling?" She was always wandering off and finding insects or small animals or a pretty rock to show her mother.

Amara grinned a gap-toothed smile and held up her prize, and Ursa nearly had a heart attack. Her daughter was holding a sphere of water as big as her head in her hands. She knew Amara would water bend sooner or later-she just hoped it was later.

"Lookit, Mommy!" she said proudly, "I is holding watew! An' look wha' I can do!" she threw the water in the air with one hand and caught it with the other. "I does magic!"

Ursa slapped the water away, spilling it all over the floor. Amara looked up at her confused and teary eyed. She gripped her daughter's shoulders firmly. "Amara, please tell me you didn't show that to Daddy."

She shook her head. "No, I onwy shows you! Daddy don't like twicks."

"You must promise me not to do that ever again!"

Amara frowned and pouted. "But-"

Ursa shook her slightly. "Amara!" She pleaded. "Promise me: no more water tricks!"

"Ok, Mommy."

She sighed in relief. "Good. Shoza?" she called.

Amara's maid appeared in the room. "Yes, Milady?"

"Amara is not to ever go near the turtle-duck pond or any other place with a lot of water. Ok?"

Looking confused at her mistress's request, Shoza nodded

Still trying to calm down, Ursa sent her daughter to go play with Zuko, and immediately hurried off to find Iroh.

O_O_O_O_O_O_O

Zuko crept silently through the palace, checking every nook and cranny he came across. Suddenly he heard giggling somewhere near him. Grinning, he called out softly, "Amara! Where'd you go?"

The giggle grew louder, and Zuko traced the sound to a curtain nearby. "Well, I guess she's not here!" Stomping on the floor, he made his feet grow softer and softer until it sounded like he left the room. The curtain shifted, and out poked the small head of his youngest sister.

"FOUND YOU!" he shouted, scooping the ten year-old girl in his arms. Laughing almost as hard as her, Zuko didn't care what Father said. Playing with Amara was not childish, it was fun! It had been three years since his mother died, and Zuko was as lonely as ever. He made sure his sister was never as lonely was he was at her age. At ten years old, she hadn't been anywhere outside the palace, not even the gardens. Father and her maid insisted she stay inside due to her sickness. But that was about to change tonight. Zuko had spent three years trying to convince Father to let him take Amara out to the Fire Festival, and he had finally relented.

"Let's play again! You hide this time!"

Zuko laughed and shook his head. "Uh-uh, kiddo, it's almost sundown, and do you remember what day it is?"

Amara thought for a moment, then her eyes widened and she grinned.

"THE FIRE FESTIVAL!" she shouted.

"Yeah, now go put on your shoes and your cloak! We don't want to be late."

Zuko studied his sister as she pulled on her shoes. Her brown hair had grown to her back, and, like her sister, she wore a small top-knot on her head. Her long-sleeved, knee length white dress had red bands around the cuffs, the neckline and her waist, and a Firenation symbol gleamed gold on her chest. Her black pants and shoes contrasted with her porcelain skin, as did the dark red cloak she shrugged on. The only thing off about her was her sky-blue eyes, and unlike his father and sister, Zuko loved Amara's eyes. They said she was different, that their father didn't control everything about them.

"Ready, squirt?" he called.

Amara gave him a thumbs up. "Ready!"

Laughing, they headed out the door.

O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O

Hours later, the two siblings lay on the roof above Amara's room, sharing stories and munching on fire flakes.

"That was amazing! I didn't know it was so fun out there!" Amara said as she shoved a handful of snacks into her mouth

Zuko chuckled. "That wasn't even the best part!"

"What do you mean? That was great!"

"Just watch the sky.

A few moments later a colorful explosion blew up in the sky, followed by more of them. Zuko looked at his sister, who was watching the show wide-eyed. "What do you think?"

She turned to him, looking happier than he had seen her in a long time. "I always thought those were thunder storms!" she said breathlessly, "I didn't know they were fireworks! I was too scared to go and look out the window."

"You like them?"

"Of course I like them!" she said, snuggling up to her brother's side. "Hey, Zuko?"

"Yes, Amara?"

"Can we do this next year?"

Zuko smiled down at the girl curled against his side. "Of course we can, I'm not going anywhere." He promised.

The next morning when Amara went to look for him, a servant told her Zuko was in a war meeting. A week later, Zuko left to go on some war thing.

Without saying goodbye.

O_O_O_O_O_O_O

Azula rolled her eyes as her sister walked into the dining room. Amara's hair was up in a ponytail, and she had her hair brushed over to one side so a side bang covered her left eye. Two years since their brother left, she still wore that look on his birthday or the anniversary of his banishment. Not that Azula remembered-or cared about- either one.

"Must you where your hair like that? Father won't be pleased when he sees you."

Amara stared coldly at her and said, "Father has already seen me multiple times like this and besides, it's none of your buzzard-wasp's wax what my hair looks like."

"Whatever" she muttered. Azula had to admit, since Zuko left Amara was getting a bit frightening for a twelve year-old. She didn't speak as much, and only to answer questions from her or their father, and whenever it rained she stood out near the turtle-duck pond until someone forced her to go back inside. One time when Azula had been snooping in her room she had found drawings. Picture after picture of burned towns and sad little kids standing in front of rubble that used to be homes, and some odd pictures that looked like spirits. A few of the drawings showed people water bending. And she had this look where it made Azula feel a twinge of guilt for reveling in Zuko's banishment. Just a tiny bit, mind you.

Azula watched as she grabbed a pastry and stalked out of the room before going back to her ostrich egg.


End file.
